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June 3, 2012

My Ohio Quilt Shop Hop, Zanesville to Toledo

A few weeks ago I attended Statler Stitcher Days in Zanesville, OH, hosted by Doug and Martha Creasy at A Touch of Thread.

It was a three day seminar where I met lots of nice machine quilters. We all share the love of quilting on our Statler Stitcher computer guided longarm quilting machines. I learned a lot of new tips and tricks that will take my quilting to a new level, and it was well worth the trip!

When it was over I had a few days to meander my way up to Michigan to visit my parents. So I did some research and mapped a route from Zanesville to Toledo through farmlands and over back roads of eastern Ohio that would take me to several great quilt shops!

After leaving Zanesville, my first stop was Berlin, OH for an overnight. I stayed at the Berlin Grande Hotel, it was fairly new and very nice, except there was NO cell phone service in the area! Berlin is located in the midst of the largest Amish community in the US.

The following morning I was up early and on my way to Millersburg, OH to visit Miller's Dry Goods. I was in search of fabric, of course!

I was looking for a specific fabric that I had seen on their website, and they were very helpful in finding it for me! A very nice selection, and a wonderful experience!

I was soon on the road to my next destination, Country Fabrics in Shiloh, OH. It was challenging to find because at one point the Google maps directions, the 8 year old GPS, and the AAA paper map all showed different directions! I sat at an intersection with no one around and finally decided to trust the 8 year old GPS. There was nothing around other than farmland and an occasional barn. But lo and behold, there it was, a relatively new building with lots of cars parked out front. That must be the quilt shop!!

I am much less overwhelmed if I have something specific in mind when I go fabric shopping (that doesn't mean I stick to my wish list LOL). So it didn't take me long to make my selections, and find some other fabric that I needed....

Soon I was on the way to my next destination, The Door Mouse in Bettsville, OH. I continued heading northwest, and by that time the roads were getting straighter and the farmland was getting flatter. I had to fool the GPS several times because I wanted to stay on the back roads even though some of them were labeled as highways!

Again in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere, there was a barn like building that was bursting with fabric!

I had been warned that it could feel overwhelming inside. Here is the green aisle...

And the red aisle....

I made my selections upstairs in the novelty section. And on my way out I stopped in the ladies room and found even mores stuff for sale in there!

One more stop at Checker Distributors in Maumee, OH. They sell wholesale quilting supplies to businesses, and since I have a longarm quilting business I have an account there. I was very curious to see the inside of the warehouse first hand!

Once inside, there was a spotless showroom with samples of all the items they sell. All I can say is wow, I never knew there were so many cool quilting gadgets!

But the fabric warehouse was the coolest part... words can't even begin to describe the feeling of being surrounded by thousands of full bolts of fabric.... (If you are a quilter and you have read this far, you probably know that feeling!) So much fabric everywhere!

And more fabric, as far as you can see, arranged by manufacturer.

I made my selections, paid for them, and was finally on to the final leg of my adventure to Michigan. It was a day filled with fabric, definitely a good day for a fabricaholic :) It was a fun adventure and I look forward to doing it again!!

About Me

I love quilts and fabric! I have been making quilts for over 35 years, and have owned and operated a successful machine quilting business since 2006. I believe in high quality, attention to detail, and exceptional customer service.